The Glass Slipper
by FreeingAlys
Summary: [COMPLETE!] Kelsi was always the quiet and distant one. The only thing she has going for her is her composurers. And maybe the guy she always wanted. [Kelsi][Trelsi]
1. CHAPTER ONE

**Title: **The Glass Slipper  
**Rating: **T-For safety in later chapters.**  
Author: **Freeing Alys**  
Disclaimer: **I don't own HSM or any of the charectors that we already know. Anything that you don't regonize, I own.**  
Summary: **Kelsi was always the quiet and distant one. The only thing she has going for her is her composurers. And maybe the guy she always wanted. Kelsi centric/Trelsi?

**CHAPTER ONE**

Kelsi Nielson sat near her keyboard and sighed out in exasperation. This was hard, it always was at first but she had to do it. Placing her hands back on the keys Kelsi started to hit random keys until she found what she liked. It was a weird way to go about writing a song, but it was her thing. This had been the way Kelsi had been composing for three years, and it was really growing on her.

Humming along to the melody, Kelsi jotted down the notes on her notepad. "I think this is real, I believe it's right. Yeah, yeah." Kelsi sung out as she kept hitting the keys. After the way the last musical ended the year before Mrs. Darbus asked Kelsi to compose the next musical, and Kelsi was determined to do it. It was what Kelsi really wanted and it would happen to its fulliest possibilty.

Letting her fingers flow over the keys of the keyboard Kelsi finished up the first song that she had able to finish for the new musical. **'Believe in Me And You.' **Had to be the first, best song that Kelsi was able to write since Mrs. Darbus handed the job over to Kelsi. Getting inspired really hadn't been all that easy as of lately. With her parents fighting non-stop and her in and out relationship with the new EHS couple, Gabbi and Troy, inspiration wasn't anywhere to be found.

Smiling at her keyboard Kelsi stood up and grabbed her sheet music, setting it aside in her room Kelsi walked over to her bed and plopped down on it. Going downstairs to watch a movie wouldn't been a good idea right about now, but Dad was due home any second and Mom was angry with him again. So Kelsi thought it safer to sit up in her room and wait for the fight to pass.

Closing her eyes and starting to relax Kelsi jumped up in her bed when her own phone in her room rang. Picking it up Kelsi softly held it to her ear. "Hello?" She said casually into the receiver, trying not to sound all too shocked that someone was actually calling her.

"Kelsi?" The voice of Troy Bolton filled Kelsi's ear and she felt her heart beat heavily against her chest.

"Troy." She finally answered after a second of silence.

"Um yeah it's me." He answered almost sound nervous to Kelsi and it made her skin crawl. If anyone should be nervous it should be her. Troy Bolton was calling her after all, the leader of the school was calling the next to invisible member of the school.

"How did you get my number?" Kelsi blurted out before realizing that it sounded rude. "I mean, I didn't know you had it." She tried again trying to repent her mistake from the first time.

"Um actually Gabbi gave it to me a while ago. Have you seen her?" Troy asked sounding a little upset. Kelsi shook her head and started to pick at the hem of her tight fitted jeans. Of course he was calling for Gabi, why else? Since they started to go out at the end of the year before it was all about them. They fought from time to time and when Gabbi was talking to Kelsi she'd slip over to her house. But today was one of the days that Gabbi didn't want anything to do with Kelsi.

"No I haven't. She's not talking to me right now." Kelsi told Troy and she heard him clear his throat over the phone. "Sorry." She added wishing she could be anything at all to Troy. But nope, she was just Kelsi. The girl with the big hat and piano based music.

"Okay thanks Kelsi." Troy said before hanging up the phone.

Kelsi nodded and fell back down on her bed with the thoughts of Troy Bolton in her mind. She'd had the biggest crush on him for as long as she could remember. It was probably since the beginning of high school. Troy was getting on the basket team and he was a star. It drew Kelsi in in a certain way. She'd always wanted to be a star, with her music that is. And Troy actually was able to become a star with his sport. Kelsi both loved and admired Troy, he was her biggest rock in her messed up world. Granted, they were never friends or even acquaintences. But nonetheless he played a huge role in Kelsi's small life.

The sounds of Kelsi's parents fighting started to waft up to her room and she rolled her eyes. Not again, she thought to herself and sat up in bed. She had been expecting it, but there was always a part of Kelsi that thought it wouldn't happen. Maybe her Mom would've gotten over it by then or something. But it never happened they always fought.

Shaking her head Kelsi slipped off of her bed and walked out side of her bedroom door. Peeping over the door frame she saw both of her parents standing next to each other yelling. Fighting back the urge to yell at both of them Kelsi slipped back inside her bedroom and paced her floor.

She didn't want to be here anymore. She hated the fighting and unablitly to write any music. Kelsi was really starting to hate her own home and resent her parents. She hated that all within its self.

Kelsi's eyes drifted to her bedroom window and nodded her head. That was it, she'd slip out of her house. She highly doubted her parents would even notice that she was gone. So, grabbing her baggy jacket Kelsi quickly slipped it on and walked over to her window. Opening it up to its full extend Kelsi slipped out of it and jumped off the one-story roof and hit the soft grass with a light thud.

Standing up off the ground Kelsi walked quickly to sidewalk and started to walk down the street in a quick pace. Getting away was the one true thing that Kelsi really needed. Home was starting to become more unbearable each day and her parents didn't even care. Their obsession and addiction became fighting and hurting each other, and they didn't care that it was tearing apart their child.

Kelsi reached the main street and walked slowly along the sidewalk with the cars. Where do I go? Kelsi wondered to herself as he walked from block to block of her town. Gabbi was mad at her, again, for telling her maybe Troy was right about the fight they were in when they last talked. She couldn't go to Gabbi's, she'd only tell her to leave. Gabbi was the closest thing that Kelsi had to a friend and she had no idea about her home life or what was really going on. Kelsi didn't know she could trust that in such a flaky friend like Gabbi. Sighing Kelsi shook her head. She didn't know where'd she go, she really had no one. The only thing she had truly was home, and that was starting to suck so much she couldn't stand it. She wasn't going back tonight. She wasn't.

Stopping in the middle of the block Kelsi wrapped her arms around her thining waist, food really hadn't been liking her lately and survayed the area she was currently in. What did I know around here? She wondered as her eyes took in the area. Resting on the curb Kelsi slowly started to realize where she was. She was in Troy Bolton's neighborhood. Shaking her head Kelsi stood up and couldn't believe the thoughts in her head. There was no way she could go to Troy's, she couldn't. But as Kelsi watched the sun start to dip behind the mountains she realized she had to go somewhere. And Troy's was as good as anything.

Crossing the street Kelsi plunged her way into the rich neighborhood of her town. The part of town that Troy had grown up in and knew so much about. Passing each three-story house Kelsi paused in front of Troy's. This was it. This was Troy's house. Sighing Kelsi carefully walked up to his door and knocked on it. Feeling her stomach wrap within its self Kelsi took in a deep breath as the door opened. Troy stood on the other side and lightly smiled at Kelsi. "Hey." He greeted her and looked at her like she was crazy. And Kelsi knew she deserved the look. Why was she on Troy's doorstep anyway?

"Hi Troy." She said back and looked down at her feet. This was stupid, she really shouldn't have come.

"Did you find Gabbi?" Troy asked and Kelsi looked up at him and shook her head. He thinks I'm here for her, she realized and she felt ten times more stupid. He didn't care about her.

"No. Sorry." Kelsi said and turned around to walk back home. She'd just have to go back there wither she liked it or not, she should've had more friends for minutes like these.

"Kelsi wait!" Troy let out and Kelsi turned around to face him. "Do you want to come in?" He asked her and she nodded with a ghost smile on her lips.

"Sure." She said and walked into Troy's house. Taking in the huge surroundings Troy led Kelsi to his living room.

"My parents left, but they'll be back." He told Kelsi as she sat on the couch.

"Thanks for letting me in." Kelsi told Troy and he smiled at her.

"Sure." He said sitting next to her and started to drum his fingers on his knee. It was something that Kelsi found to be appealing and she loved the sound. It was a sound that Troy was making and she loved every note of the music he was playing.

"You think I'm like way weirder now don't you?" Kelsi asked him worried he'd never look at her again after this. This was a crazy thing to do after all, they barely knew each other. And here she was showing up at his house. It was crazy.

Troy looked over at Kelsi and shook his head with a mild expression on his face. "No I don't. I mean, I don't understand it. But I don't think you're weird." Troy told Kelsi and she lightly smiled at him, the only ounce of a smile that had escaped her lips all day.

"I just didn't want to be home anymore. I hate it there. So I went out my window and started to walk. I ended up here somehow." Kelsi explained to Troy leaving out her fighting parents, hidden love for him, and uninspired brain. That had to be too much to give him right away.

Troy flashed Kelsi a look that said he didn't know up from down, and it made Kelsi want to hide under a rock. But she knew she couldn't, she put herself in the situation and now she had to deal with it. "I'm sorry." Troy said after a minute of silence and Kelsi was thankful for it.

Shrugging her shoulders Kelsi started to pick at her nail bits. "It's fine. I mean I'd hate to go back tonight. But I don't have a choice do I?" She asked looking back up at Troy and he shook his head at her.

"Stay here tonight. My Mom loves to cater on guests. We have a guest room, tomorrow is Saturday, so I'm sure it'll be fine." Troy offered starting to sound upbeat about it and Kelsi smiled, maybe he's actually seeing me she thought to herself as she felt her head nod up and down.

"Okay. Thanks Troy." Kelsi retorted and smiled widely at Troy.

"Sure. Just promise me one thing." He started and Kelsi shrugged her shoulders to show she wanted to know the promise. "You'll tell me why you don't want to go home."

"Yeah, okay." Kelsi promised without thinking. But who really knows, by the time she left the next morning he would've forgotten.

Troy's cell phone rang loudly breaking the connection he and Kelsi were slowly making. Flashing Kelsi an apolocetic smile he flip it open and pressed it to his ear. "Hello?" He said into it and Kelsi smiled at him as he stood up off the couch and plugged his free ear with a free finger. Taking in Troy's figure Kelsi felt happier then she had for quiet awhile, being with Troy really was the thing to make her feel better. "Gabbi…" Troy talked into his phone and automatically Kelsi's heart dropped to her stomach. Gabbi, it was always Gabbi that drew him away.

TBC


	2. CHAPTER TWO

**Title: **The Glass Slipper  
**Rating: **T**  
Author: **Freeing Alys**  
Disclaimer: **I don't own HSM or any of the charectors that we already know. Anything that you don't regonize, I own.**  
Summary: **Kelsi was always the quiet and distant one. The only thing she has going for her is her composurers. And maybe the guy she always wanted. Kelsi centric. Trelsi?

**CHAPTER TWO**

Troy hung up from his conversation with Gabbi and sat back on the couch next to Kelsi. "She forgave me again." Troy let out and smiled at her in obvious happiness.

"That's awesome Troy." Kelsi forced out of her lips and smiled at him in mock happiness. She was happy for him in a way. She wanted Troy to be happy, but she'd would rather he was happy with her after all. Mentally Kelsi kicked herself in the ass for coming to Troy's. It was a pretty good idea, but meshing her world and Troy's wasn't the best idea in the world. They couldn't mesh it wasn't possible. He was the jock and she was the girl in the hat and baggy jacket. That's all it was and all it'd ever be. Kelsi really had no idea what she was doing, but it couldn't end up very well.

"My parents should be home soon." Troy said breaking the silence and he glanced down at his watch. "I could show you the room, it is getting late." Troy offered standing up off the couch and Kelsi followed lead.

"Yeah, okay." Kelsi answered shyly and she followed Troy to the guest bedroom.

They walked into the bare room with Kelsi in tow and Troy opened his arms once they were stepped inside. "This is it!" He told her walking up to the bed and sitting on it.

"It's nice." Kelsi told him taking in the room in awe. This wasn't the kind of thing that Kelsi was really used to, she was used to barely having one room for her and her parents in the same house. But this was something nice. "It's amazing. I'm not used to this kind of thing." Kelsi trusted in Troy and automatically regretted it. It was too much to share with him, she didn't even know him. But at the same time it made her feel okay. Troy made her feel different like she was coming out of her shell, like in her song Breaking Free.

"I'm sorry." Troy let out and watched as Kelsi paced around the room looking it up and down.

Kelsi shrugged her shoulders at Troy's apology. "It's fine. I mean, it's not your fault." She told him and watched as he nodded his head.

"I just wish you were as well off as me." Troy told her and Kelsi turned from him and flash a smile to the bare wall. Feeling her heart beat harder and faster then it normally should've Kelsi walked back around to the bed and sat next to Troy.

"So what is up in the world of Troy Bolton?" Kelsi asked loving the fact that she was sitting next to Troy in his house and talking to just him.

Troy smiled at Kelsi in pure enjoyment and shrugged his shoulders. "Basketball, Gabbi…the usual." He told her and Kelsi nodded a little upset that he didn't mention the musical coming up. With all the fun they had the year before she figured he'd come back, but of course he wasn't. And there had to be some reason for it. Of course Kelsi figured it was his father, but she needed to hear the reason.

"What about the musical?" She asked him and he turned to face her, obviously caught off guard.

"Um, yeah I guess that too. I don't know Kelsi I really hadn't thought of it." He confessed to her and Kelsi nodded at him.

"Isn't Gabbi auditioning?" Kelsi asked and watched as Troy nodded in his head in answer.

"Yeah, that's what we've mainly been fighting over. She wants to audition for pairs with me. But I don't know…Dad has his thing going and I don't want to ruin it." Troy told Kelsi and she suddenly felt bad for him. Her parents might fight all the time and not give a rat's ass about what it does to her. But at least she's still able to write music and play the piano. It was more then what Troy got.

"Sorry Troy." Kelsi told him and he shook his head at her leaving her utterly confused.

"Don't be. I like basketball, maybe not as much as Dad, but I do and it's my ticket to college." Troy informed Kelsi and she nodded her head, he was right after all.

"I understand." She told Troy and he smiled at her and for a second it seemed to Kelsi as though they had connected for a minute or too, and then the front door slammed shut.

"My parents are home." Troy informed Kelsi and she stood up off the bed when he did.

"Should I go meet them?" Kelsi asked him and Troy nodded.

"Yeah, let's go." Troy answered Kelsi and led her out of the bedroom.

**-xxx-**

The next morning Kelsi woke up in Troy's guest bedroom bed. Pulling her wrist from out from the bed she checked her watch drowsily, ten eighteen in the morning. Rubbing at her eyes Kelsi sat up in bed and felt the butterflies start to roam around in her stomach almost imediately. Troy. His parents. Sighing and scooting out of the bed Kelsi realized she really didn't want to deal with it. She had no idea why, she just didn't want to. Going to the night stand Kelsi flipped open the first drawer and saw that it contained a notepad and pencils. Picking up both of the objects Kelsi jotted down a message in the notepad.

**Had to run Troy, sorry for not sticking around.**

Feeling content with her decision Kelsi walked over to the wide window in the room and quietly slipped out of it. Feeling the warm Saturday sun pour down on her she made her way back home and snuck into her window.

"I don't know!" Kelsi heard her parents fighting again and she heard random objects being thrown and crashing down. Sighing Kelsi laid down on her bed and tried to drown out the sounds of her family, but it was pretty much impossible.

Her Mom's voice rang out in the house making it impossible for Kelsi to hear or concentrate on anything else. Finally, Kelsi let out a huge sigh put her hat on and closed her eyes. She allowed images of Troy to fill her mind and she thought of the night before. Troy was full in her mind when she heard her door open. "What are you doing?" Kelsi heard her Dad ask and she forced open her eyes to the world.

"Nothing Dad." Kelsi answered standing off her bed and facing her father.

"Your Mother and I want to talk to you." He said in a cold voice and Kelsi couldn't help but wonder when her parents started to hate her and each other.

Nodding her head Kelsi viewed her father from behind her glasses and watched him leave her room. Sighing Kelsi walked out of her room and slipped into the kitchen.

Mrs. Nielson was sitting at the table looking angry, sad and mad all at the same time. Taking in her Mother's face Kelsi knew this moment couldn't help all that well. "What's going on Mom?" Kelsi asked sitting down at the kitchen table across from her Mom.

Mrs. Nielson smiled lightly at Kelsi and locked eyes with her. "I'm going to be up front with you." She started and Kelsi knew what was headed her way, it was the thing she'd expecting to hear for quite awhile. "I'm telling you this like this because I think you can handle it. We're getting a divorce." Mrs. Nielson finished without skipping a beat.

"Okay." Kelsi replied trying to keep her feelings in check. Her family was falling apart from the hems and there was nothing she could do to change it. "What's going to happen?" She asked looking between both her Mom and Dad.

Mr. Nielson shrugged his shoulders and lightly touched Kelsi on her shoulder, it was the closest that she'd been to her father in months. "You can either live here with your Mother or in New York with me." He told his daughter and Kelsi looked over at her Mom.

"I want to stay here. It's my home." Kelsi told her parents and the nodded at her.

"Okay." Mr. Nielson said and stood out of his chair. "I love you Kelsi." He told Kelsi and she nodded her head at him.

"Yeah, I love you Dad." She answered and watched as he walked away.

Holding back her tears Kelsi stood up from the table and started to walk to her room. "It'll be fine Kelsi." Mrs. Nielson told Kelsi as she walked to her room.

Kelsi slammed the door behind her and ignored her Mom.


	3. CHAPTER THREE

**Title: **The Glass Slipper  
**Rating: **T**  
Author: **Freeing Alys**  
Disclaimer: **I don't own HSM or any of the charectors that we already know. Anything that you don't regonize, I own.**  
Summary: **Kelsi was always the quiet and distant one. The only thing she has going for her is her composurers. And maybe the guy she always wanted. Kelsi centric. Trelsi?

**CHAPTER THREE**

Kelsi hung over the edge of her bed and tightly pinched her eyes shut. _This wasn't happening. It couldn't be._ She thought to herself over and over again, but she knew it was. Her parents were splitting up, and she'd probably never see her Dad again. It was the end of her perfect family. She always did think that they were a perfect family. When she was younger she never had to pretend she was anywhere else, she loved right where she was. Sighing Kelsi flung herself up on top of her bed and rolled her eyes at her surroundings. Her nightstand was full of family pictures and short poems about her parents. Standing off of her bed she walked over to her nightstand and swiftly ran her hand across the pictures, causing them to knock over and crash on the floor.

Feeling somewhat better Kelsi walked from her bedroom into her bathroom and shut and locked the door behind her. Groaning in anger she slid down the wall and fell onto the tiled floor. Tracing her fingers in the cracks on the floor Kelsi let her mind swirl with all that was happening. It was falling apart. Her family and life was just like the floor she was tracing, slowly cracking waiting to completely fall apart. Closing her eyes again, Kelsi felt her life spin out of control. It was all a big mess. She was falling for a guy she could never have. Her parents were splitting up. She couldn't write a great song for the musical for the life of her…it was falling apart.

Feeling her stomach growl Kelsi pushed the feeling away, food was really the last thing that she wanted. Indulging herself in food just reminded her of what she couldn't have, and she hated that feeling. So she pushed the feeling of the hunger away and stood up off the floor. Not wanting to leave the calmness of the bathroom Kelsi stared at herself in the mirror and tried to plot a plan to make her life more bareable.

"Kelsi!" Mrs. Nielson yelled through the wooden door, interupting Kelsi's thoughts with the loud knocks.

"Yeah?" Kelsi asked not bothering to put any emotion in the question. Her Mom really didn't deserve to know anything Kelsi was feeling, splitting up her family wasn't the way to get onto Kelsi's good side.

"Dinner." Mrs. Nielson told her daughter and Kelsi heard the clicks of her Mom's shoes moving away from the door.

Sighing Kelsi walked out of the bathroom and headed into the kitchen. Eating was the last thing that Kelsi wanted, but she knew her Mom's temper would only rise if she didn't go to the dinner table. Sitting across from her Mom Kelsi took in her Dad's empty spot and shook her head at no one inpediticular.

"Your Dad is coming by tomorrow to say bye." Mrs. Nielson said taking a bit of her caserole and carefully chewing it.

Kelsi shrugged her shoulders and tried to not show any feelings to her Mother. "Great." She said and turned her gaze to her Mom's face. She was perfectly made up, makeup on her face and not a hair out of place. It was the way she always was when she was trying to impress. Kelsi shook her head again, not really seeing why she needed to impress anyone. It was stupid.

"You're not hungry?" Mrs. Nielson asked Kelsi and she carefully shook her head, trying not to knock her bowler hat off.

"Not really." Kelsi answered staring at the food and turned it into her enemy. Food was for people whom wanted to reward themselves, or indulge in something great. Indulging was the last thing Kelsi wanted to feel her stomach full of something and her heart full of nothing wasn't what she even needed.

"Okay." Mrs. Nielson nodded her head and took another bite of food and swallowed it. "How is your music going?" She asked Kelsi knowing she got asked to supply more music for yet another musical at East High School.

Kelsi looked up into her Mom's gaze and shrugged her shoulders. "Horribly actually." She answered and saw her Mom nod her head.

"I'm sure something will come, you have that way of being able to write something sooner or later." Mrs. Nielson said while scooping more food onto her fork and shoving it into her mouth.

"Yeah…" Kelsi retorted while taking her Mother's features in. Kelsi was always able to get something inspirational from her Mom from time to time. Even with all the fighting and family separating going on, inspiration was never far when Kelsi really talked to her Mom. "Thanks." Kelsi told her Mom feeling grateful for her. "I've been stuck for awhile, I wrote something yesterday, but it kind of sucks." Kelsi confined in her Mom and she saw her nod again.

"Just keep going at it, you'll get there." Mrs. Nielson told Kelsi finishing her food. "Well if you're not going to eat, I'll clean up." She stated and stood out of her chair.

"I think I'm going to go write." Kelsi said scooting out of her chair.

"Have fun." Mrs. Nielson said as Kelsi walked out of the room.

**-xxx-**

Kelsi's phone rang in her room, interupting her song writing process. Sighing Kelsi walked away from her keyboard and picked up the phone casually, hoping with all her heart it was Troy. Twenty four hours without him was twenty four more then she wanted. "Hello?" Kelsi asked into the receiver.

"Kels?" She heard Gabbi's voice in her ear and Kelsi's heart sunk.

"Gabbi, hey." Kelsi replied sitting lightly on her bed, Gabbi was most likely calling to apologize once again for being mad at her.

"Troy called me and told me about you staying at his house. I just wanted to make sure you're okay." She said quickly, rushing the sentences by like she was scared to say them.

Shaking her head Kelsi started to pick on the edge of her mattress lightly with her fingers. "Yeah Gabbi, I'm fine." She answered slowly and casually. "What did Troy say?" She threw in and regretted it right away. Feeling guilty for her feelings and asking his girlfriend about them, it was horrible and wrong. _I'm turning into something bad. _Kelsi thought as Gabbi cleared her throat to answer.

"He just told me about you showing up at his house and asking to stay the night. I think he was a little worried about you. So he called me when he found your note." Gabbi stated and Kelsi shook her head. Worried, it was a pretty light feeling. It wasn't anything real or personal, it just was.

"Oh." Kelsi let out lamely and she mentally kicked herself for being so lame. "Okay." Kelsi tried again, but failed once again horrible.

"Look Kels, I'm really sorry. I can just get mad and then be like the biggest bitch ever. Sorry. Let's hang out tomorrow." Gabbi told Kelsi and she smiled to herself. As much as she hated her small fall outs with Gabbi, she still wanted a best friend.

So she let Gabbi in every time she wanted to be back in.

"Okay, sounds like fun." Kelsi answered. After making plans to meet at Gabbi's after her shift at the mall food court Kelsi hung up with her.

Hanging up the phone Kelsi laid back on her bed and stared at her ceiling. No matter how much Kelsi really didn't want it to be happening she couldn't deny it. She was falling for her on and off best friend's boyfriend, and it wasn't a good thing. Sighing, Kelsi pulled her large comforter over her body and stared into the darkening room. Troy was someone she'd admired from afar since they both entered the ninth grade, but being around him since last year, she couldn't hide her feelings anymore. "This isn't happening." Kelsi whispered in the dark room, hating the fact her life was taking the turn that it was.

TBC


	4. CHAPTER FOUR

**Title: **The Glass Slipper  
**Rating: **T**  
Author: **Freeing Alys**  
Disclaimer: **I don't own HSM or any of the charectors that we already know. Anything that you don't regonize, I own.**  
Summary: **Kelsi was always the quiet and distant one. The only thing she has going for her is her composurers. And maybe the guy she always wanted. Kelsi centric. Trelsi?**  
Author's Note: **Sorry if this chapter sucks a bit. I was having some major writer's block. So the last half might not be so good. It's just a mild warning on the behalf of my plotting and writing of this chappie. Anyway, enjoy! Oh, and I thought it'd be helpful to you, the readers, if I did a section of this chapter in Troy's POV. It probably won't be that way again(but then again don't quote me), I just wanted to make it a little more apparent and clear of the way that Troy starts to fall for Kelsi and drifts away from Gabbi. But like I said horrible writer's block, so it might not be the best. But oh well, I just needed to update for you guys. Alright, I'm shutting up now. Wow, this is like the world's longest AN. Sorry aboot that. Okay, here you go.

**CHAPTER FOUR**

After Gabbi had finished her shift at the food court in the mall she called Kelsi and told her to come over. Setting the phone down on her desk, Kelsi slipped on her baggy jacket and slipped out of her room. Finding her Mom in the kitchen she peeped inside the spacious room. "Hey Mom, I'm going over to Gabbi's." She informed and watched her Mom look over at her with a smile on her face.

"Wow, it's been a bit since you've been over there. You're not fighting anymore?" Mrs. Neilson asked and Kelsi nodded her head smling.

"Yeah, so forgave me. So I'll be back in a couple of hours." Kelsi said and walked out of the house. Sighing to herself Kelsi shoved her hands in the pockets of her jacket and walked down the street. Gabbi lived only a block away, so there wasn't all that much needed alone time for Kelsi.

Later that night her Dad would be comign over to give Kelsi a proper good-bye. And it wasn't something that Kelsi was looking forward too. She loved her Dad, and she'd miss him. The dinners, movie watching, fun times would all be gone. And it wasn't a reality that Kelsi wanted in her life. Sighing again Kelsi picked up her step to move faster along. As much as she wanted to be alone, she wanted to escape her thoughts even more. Being half a block from Gabbi's Kelsi sped up even faster.

Keeping her head low as the thoughts rushed through her head Kelsi knew nothing in her life would be quite right again. Her family was falling apart, and it could never be fixed again. Feeling the weight of the problems resting on her shoulders Kelsi closed her eyes as she reached Gabbi's street. Pausing at the tip of it she kept her eyes shut and tried to calm her thoughts. Her Dad was gone, but couldn't be the end of the world. It couldn't. Taking a deep breath Kelsi reopened her eyes and pushed the thoughts away from her. Regaining her self control she walked quickly down the street to Gabbi's house and knocked on the door. Kelsi waited a few minutes until Mrs. Montez opened the door. "Hello Kesli." She greeted the teen and Kelsi smiled up at her nicely.

"Hi Mrs. Montez. I guess Gabbi told you I was coming over?" Kelsi asked walking into the house and pausing by the door.

Mrs. Montez nodded her head at Kelsi and smiled. "Yes, she did. You can go upstairs. She's waiting." Mrs. Montez informed Kelsi and after flashing Mrs. Montez a smile Kelsi quickly made it up the stairs and into Gabbi's bedroom.

"Hey!" Gabbi greeted her best friend by throwing her arms around her and pulling her into a hug.

"Hi Gabs." Kelsi said after Gabbi let her go. "What's up?" She asked sitting with Gabbi on her bed.

Shaking her head Gabbi flashed Kelsi a sly look. "Nothing. Just hanging out with Troy, the usual." She answered and Kelsi stomach dropped at the mention of Troy. Troy was a complicated subject for Kelsi and she didn't want to have to think about him, especially now that Gabbi had let her back into her life.

Swallowing down her thoughts Kelsi nodded her head at Gabbi. "Troy huh? How's that going?" She asked and halfway regretted what she was really asking. Troy and Gabbi had been on and off since they started dating last year, Kelsi figured it wouldn't be long before one or the other got sick of it. And Kelsi regretted that feeling, Gabbi was supposed to be her best friend. She shouldn't be curious about her boyfriend.

Gabbi quickly shrugged her shoulders at Kelsi. "It's going great. We just got back together after a fight, so it's a little better now. I think we'll be fine." Gabbi retorted and Kelsi nodded her head slowly. _We'll be fine. _The sentenced echoed around Kelsi's mind and she grew regretful again. She was wanting Gabbi to loose her relationship with Troy and be miserable. That's not what a best friend should do, but Kelsi couldn't help the fact that she really liked Troy and wanted to be the one he picked the phone up for. "Kels?" Gabbi asked and Kelsi looked up from her folded hands.

"Yeah? Sorry Gabbi, I just have a lot on my mind." She confused to her best friend and watched as Gabbi's face grew worried. _She's worried about me. I'm daydreaming about her boyfriend, and she's worried about me. _Kelsi thought to herself while taking in Gabbi's face.

"What happened?" Gabbi asked scooting closer to Kesli and wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

Kelsi confided in her best friend about her parent's divorce and her Dad leaving. Lightly crying as Gabbi listened closely to Kelsi, Kelsi let it all out. "It's just so wrong. I can't believe this is happening to my family." Kelsi choked out as she heard Gabbi's door open.

"Oh, sorry." Kelsi hear Troy mumble and the door shut again.

"I should go." Kelsi annouced standing up off Gabbi's bed and heading for the door.

"Bye!" Gabbi called to Kelsi as she left the room and shut the door behind her.

Keeping her head low, so that Troy wouldn't see her exposed tears Kelsi walked quickly pass him, but was stopped when he took her arm in his hand. "You okay?" Troy asked her and she turned aroudn to look at him, no longer caring what she looked like.

"Not really." She admitted and wrapped her arms around her thin frame. "Just family stuff." Kelsi added hating the silence that was engulfing her and Troy.

Troy smiled faintly at her and nodded his head, Kelsi took in every inch of his face and fell in love with it even more. Her songs, everything was about Troy, and she really liked him. "I'm sorry. I'm here if you need me." Troy told Kelsi and she turned her head away from him, not being able to take being around him much longer.

She looked back over at him and felt herself want to say something that she knew she shouldn't, but being in the state she was in, she wanted him to know. "Troy…" She started and stopped herself, it was too much to be able to spit out, but she wanted to.

"What?" Troy asked stepping closer to Kelsi and she knew she had to say what she wanted. She didn't care about anything else any longer, she just wanted to say it. Her family was shot and she couldn't fix that. But she could easily tell Troy the one thing she wanted to tell him since the year before.

"Breaking Free, my song, it's about you. I wrote it about you." She quickly said and dropped her head feeling embarrassed.

"Kelsi…" Troy mumbled out and Kelsi looked up at him to see him wearing a confused and daised face.

Knowing right away that she made a huge mistake she spun around and jolted down the hallway, down the stairs and out the door. Being safely away from Troy and Gabbi Kelsi took a deep breath and started to walk back home. She made a huge mistake, he wasn't supposed to know that she had always liked him. But she couldn't hold it back anymore.

Kelsi sighed and made it safely pass Gabbi's street and on the way to her own house.

**-xxx-**

Troy walked back into the room with his girlfriend, Gabbi, and felt as she hugged him tightly. But he could hardly feel it, his mind was now fixed upon Kelsi and what she told him. Breaking Free, she wrote it about him. Letting Gabbi out of the hug Troy went and sat on her bed and tried to listen to her go on about work and new clothes for school. But Kelsi was the main train of thought running through his head. She wrote that song for him, or in thoughts of him or something. But either way, he didn't even know who she was when she wrote that song. He didn't even know she was alive, but she knew him well enough to write a song about him and have it featured in the school musical.

"Troy, did you hear me?" Gabbi asked curiously and Troy turned his head to face his girlfriend.

"Sorry Gabs." He apologized while flashing Gabbi a smile.

"Good." She smiled back at him and lightly kissed him on his lips, he licked his lips thoughtfully when Gabbi pulled back and once again his mind was set on Kelsi. She was really upset when she left, more upset then he'd ever seen her.

"What was wrong with Kelsi?" Troy asked Gabbi interupting her new train of thought of the movie of the week.

Gabbi sighed and looked at Troy with a sad face. "Her parents are splitting up. Her Dad was supposed to go to her house later tonight to say bye, then he's gone." She explained to him and Troy felt his heart drop. Kelsi was going through all of that, no wonder she wanted to stay the night at him house. "She'll be fine. I'm sure she'll get through it. I mean, I made it through when my Dad died, she'll be okay Troy." Gabbi told him quickly, but Troy couldn't let it go. Kelsi was going through a huge thing, and he couldn't leave her to go through it alone.

"Don't you think we should be there with her when her Dad leaves?" He asked Gabbi knowing Gabbi was the closest thing to a friend that Kelsi ever had. And that would make him the second closest thing. They had to do something for her.

Gabbi shook her head lightly and held up her hand in an airy motion. "She'll be okay. Trust me." Gabbi told Troy and kissed him again on the lips, this time not releasing him for a good thirty seconds.

"We should be there." Troy repeated after Gabbi leaned back from him with a smile on her face, that disapeared once he mentioned Kelsi again.

"It's not our place." Gabbi persisted. "She'll get through it fine." But Troy was hardly listening to what she was saying.

"I'm going. She'll need someone." Troy told Gabbi and walked over to her bedroom door. "Coming?" He asked her staring into her dark eyes, hoping she'd say yes. Gabbi was his girlfriend and he hoped she was the person that she seemed to him.

Shaking her head Gabbi leaned against the wall next to her twin sized bed. "Sorry Troy, I have tons of homework." She told Troy and flashed him a look of anger.

"Fine." Troy stated and walked out of Gabbi's room slamming the door behind him. Shaking his head Troy walked out of Gabbi's house and started down the street for Kelsi's house.

Shoving his hands into his pockets Troy let out a sigh and shook his head again. He couldn't believe that's how Gabbi turned out, and he hated a part of her for it. The Gabbi he thought he knew would be walking with him to Kelsi's house right now. But obviously, Gabbi wasn't who Troy thought she was. Keeping his head low Troy took his mind of his girlfriend and zoomed in once again on Kelsi. She was going through all of that, and she never told anyone about it. Mentally shaking his head Troy hated the fact that Kelsi thought she couldn't tell him. He thought that maybe since the play last year they were friends, at least a little bit. But nothing had changed since the play last year, except that her knew she was alive this year.

Reaching Kelsi's street Troy started to run down it until he reached her house. Thankfully he had stopped by Kelsi's house earlier in the year with Gabbi to get her purse from Kelsi's room. Otherwise Troy wouldn't know where she lived. Walking up to the front door Troy rang the doorbell.

**-xxx-**

Sighing to herself Kelsi walked away from the scene with her parents to answer the door. Her Dad had showed up not to long after she left Gabbi's. And it had been nothing but her parents' lightly fighting as she tried to talk to the both of them. Feeling grateful that the doorbell rang Kelsi went to answer it as soon as her Mom told her to do so. Reaching the door Kelsi gripped the door handle and pulled it open. She found back the urge to widely open her mouth at the sight of Troy Bolton standing on her door step. "Hey." He said to her when she didn't say anything after awhile.

"Hi." She finally managed to mumble at him. Looking from the ground to Troy she felt her heart beat rapidly as she wondered what on earth he was doing on her doorstep inside of with his girlfriend.

"I thought you might need support with your parents' and everything." Troy stated and Kelsi nodded her head at him. He was right about that, the last thing Kelsi really wanted was to face her parents alone. But at the same time she didn't want to be around Troy, the scene from moments before was too embarrassing for Kelsi to be able to manage. But it was Troy, and she couldn't say no, even if she really wanted to.

"Yeah, I really do." She spat out and stepped aside to let Troy walk into her house.

"Great." He said standing besides her as Kelsi reached over to shut the door.

"Just brace yourself." Kelsi quickly warned him with a slight smile as they walked into the kitchen where her parents were waiting.

"I'll remember that." Troy joked as they entered the kitchen and both Mr. and Mrs. Nielson smiled at him.

Taking in the moment Kelsi couldn't have been more happy with the events of the evening.


	5. CHAPTER FIVE

**Title: **The Glass Slipper  
**Rating: **T**  
Author: **Freeing Alys**  
Disclaimer: **I don't own HSM or any of the charectors that we already know. Anything that you don't regonize, I own.**  
Summary: **Kelsi was always the quiet and distant one. The only thing she has going for her is her composurers. And maybe the guy she always wanted. Kelsi centric. Trelsi?**  
Author's Note: **Okay, here's the thing. I just want to make sure that people are actually reading this story and following it. So for this chapter I'll need to have 5 reviews, or I'll discontinue it. It's just that I have lots of ideas for other chapter stories and such, and I don't want to waste my time on something that no one likes. So review please if you want to see more of this story! Thanks guys! Oh, and sorry for the bad writing if it is there! I just needed to write this!

**CHAPTER FIVE**

After Kelsi's Dad left for good both Kelsi and Troy traveled up the stairs to her room. Sitting on the very edge of her bed Kelsi watched Troy walk around her room and take in the belongings on her desk and vanity. "I like your room." He finally comment as he turned around to face Kelsi.

Kelsi lightly smiled at him and nodded her head. "Thanks." She said and clutched both of her hands tightly in her lap. Butterflies were swarming quickly around her stomach and her heart was definatly beating twice its regular speed. Being with Troy did that to her, and it really did it to her after she confessed her secret about him to him in a moment of complete sadness. "I really tried hard to make it look nice." Kelsi added trying to keep the conversation going. She hated the silence between her and Troy more then anything else. Sound was what she needed when she was with him, silence left to much room for unwanted phrases and ackward glances.

"You did well." Troy replied walking over to Kelsi and he sat next to her. "You really wrote that song after me?" He asked her looking deep into her eyes. Kelsi liked the feeling, but at the same time she hated it.

Swallowing her thoughts down hard Kelsi slowly nodded, hardly having any knowing of what she was doing or saying. "Yeah, I did. I've liked you forever." She blurted out, and oddly enough didn't regret it. Kelsi Nielson had never been the one known to speak her mind or come free to who she was or what she felt. But it had to stop sooner or later and at the moment Kelsi was picking sooner.

Troy nodded slowly just like Kelsi and leaned a little too close to her, for someone with a girl friend. "That means a lot to me." He told her, his voice barely above a whisper.

Kelsi flicked her eyes from Troy's eyes to his hands and everywhere inbetween. "Why?" She asked wanting to know exactly what was behind Troy's eyes. For the first time in three years she actually had him to herself to talk to him. She'd been waiting for this moment for so long, and she'd dreamed up this moment so many times. And it was here, and with it Kelsi was changing who she was. She wanted to talk to Troy, she wanted to pick his brain, she wanted to be like Gabbi, she wanted everything that came with it. She wanted it all, and she wasn't going to let something like self-questioning to get in the way of that. She wanted it all.

"Because…" He started looking even more deeply into her eyes, if that was possible. Kelsi stared back and saw nothing but him and this moment. It was possible to her, he was looking deep into her eyes and she was really loving it. "I didn't know you when you wrote that song. And you wrote it liking me that much. It's really cool, I've never known anyone to do something like that for me." He admitted and Kelsi cracked a wide smile.

"I first saw you in the ninth grade. I really liked you, then you got popular and I knew you wouldn't want to see me." She told him loving the fact that she was talking to him, really talking to him. Telling him everything.

"You're right about that one too. I fell into being popular. I wish I hadn't." He told her and then he leaned even closer to Kelsi's face. "I really like you Kels." He whispered and Kelsi's face went a light shade or red. _He's going to kiss me. _She realized.

"Gabbi…" She whispered out, feeling it was her duty to remind him of his girlfriend.

Shaking his head Troy leaned into Kelsi face. "I don't care. She's not who I expected her to be." He told Kelsi and lightly pressed his lips against Kelsi's.

Kelsi pushed her lips back against Troy's with the same amount of force. And when he slipped his tongue into her mouth casually she welcomed it nicely. Bringing her hands to his shoulders Kelsi adjusted her self on the bed and then she felt both of them lightly fall onto the soft twin bed. Pulling her tongue in and out of Troy's mouth rythmitcally Kelsi felt herself falling into him and nothing else. And she was falling hard.

Kelsi felt as Troy's hands touched her stomach and her sides, and her legs. And she loved every minute of it. Pulling her tongue from Troy's mouth Kelsi started to kiss him quickly on the lips and then he lightly shoved his tongue back into Kelsi's mouth. Pinching her eyes tightly Kelsi let Troy's tongue roll over hers and her teeth. Nothing in the world felt better then what she was feeling at that moment. "Troy!" She suddenly heard Gabbi shriek and she pulled away from Troy quickly, wiping the loose spit from the sides of her mouth. Kelsi glanced over at Troy and saw him staring at Gabbi guiltily. "What are you doing?" She asked in a more normal voice.

Kelsi looked into her eyes and saw the tears rising to the top. And that's when she felt really guilty. _What did I do? _She asked herself taking in the picture playing out before her. "Gabs…" Troy started but Gabbi was already bolting out the door.

Scooting off the bed Troy walked to the door and turned to face Kelsi. "Just let me go break it off with her." He said casually and slipped out of her room.

Sighing a big sigh Kelsi leaned against the wall next to her bed and ran her fingers through her hair. _I've completely lost the only friend I've ever had in high school. _Kelsi realized and she shut her eyes trying to take herself back to the moment before, when she was kissing Troy and nothing else in the world mattered.

Sighing again Kelsi laid across her bed and waited for Troy to come back. As guilty as she felt for what she did to Gabbi she really didn't regret it. Gabbi had never been much of a friend anyway. She picked her up and dumped her off again whenever she felt like it, that wasn't a real friend. All Gabbi had done during the course of the year before was string Kelsi along, and it was probably just a musical thing. Opening up her eyes Kelsi took in her room and smiled for the first time that night.

Then her bedroom door opened again and Troy stepped in looking half guilty and half relived. "Hey." He said walking over to the bed and laying next to Kelsi and she smiled at him.

"You broke up with her?" She asked him and he nodded his head while smiling at her.

"Yeah. I did." He replied and then he started to stroke her hair lightly.

"I feel bad. I just lost my only friend I've ever had in high school." Kelsi said, confessing her thoughts. And she loved the feeling, it was something that Kelsi hadn't been used to doing since the start of high school.

Troy shook his head. "Don't feel bad. She didn't even want to come here with me when I came. That's how she let me down. And that's how I knew I really wanted you." He explained to Kelsi and she felt her heart lift a little with his words.

"Really?" She asked hoping it was all true, she wanted it to be true.

"Yeah."

Then he inched his face closer to hers until their lips locked again. Rolling his tongue into her mouth Troy kissed Kelsi greedily and Kelsi enjoyed all of it. Moving her lips with Troy's she allowed herself to move her hands up and down his back. Falling into every kiss of his lips and sweep of his tongue Kelsi fell into him. She was falling hard for Troy and she loved the feeling it gave her. _Even if this ends in heartache I'll always love it. _Kelsi thought to herself as she pulled Troy's shirt over his head and then let him slip her shirt over her own head and discard it in a pile that was left unknown to them until later that morning.


	6. CHAPTER SIX

**Title: **The Glass Slipper  
**Rating: **T**  
Author: **Freeing Alys**  
Disclaimer: **I don't own HSM or any of the charectors that we already know. Anything that you don't regonize, I own.**  
Summary: **Kelsi was always the quiet and distant one. The only thing she has going for her is her composurers. And maybe the guy she always wanted. Kelsi centric. Trelsi?**  
Author's Note: **First of all I just want to say sorry for the horrible writing if it exsists in this chapter. I had writer's block coming over me, but I needed to update for ya'll! And now for other notes: Same thing goes as with the last chapter's A/N. I need some reviews to know you like it! 700 hits to the story, but only 14 reviews, I just need to know you like the story. I have all these other ideas floating around for stories, but I just need to know people like this one to keep writing it. So 5 reviews if you want to see another chapter! Thanks guys, you really rock! 

**CHAPTER SIX**

The next day at school Kelsi was in her locker, trying to find the sheet music she wanted to go over for her free period in the music room. Stacking her books at the bottom of her locker she looked for the music, but failed to find it. Sighing, she stood back up and started to sift through the loose papers at the top of her locker. And there it was sitting right where she thought she left it. "There you are." She sighed out in a sing-song voice as she folded the paper and stuffed it into her pocket. "Kelsi." She heard a familiar voice behind her and she swung around to be caught face to face with Gabbi. She hadn't seen her since that Friday, mostly she'd been avoiding her, hoping she wouldn't have to have this conversation. But now it looked like she was stuck having it.

"Hi Gabs." She greeted her best friend slash old best friend with a friendly smile. "What's up?" She asked her hoping to side track her from talking about Troy, but it was a hopeless cause.

Gabbi flashed Kelsi an ice-cold face and Kelsi figured she'd gotten the tip from Sharpay Evans. "'What's up?' You stole my boyfriend and now you're asking what's up?" Gabbi asked adjusting her small pink purse on her shoulder and Kelsi simply replied with a shrug of her shoulders.

"I guess." She said, but decided she wasn't going to take the usual Gabbi-ness and she tried again. "Look Gabbi, don't be mad at me. It's what Troy wanted." Kelsi told Gabbi shutting her locker shut and prepared herself to walk to the music room before her free period was over, and she really needed to finish the song, the auditions for the musical were in a week, meaning to actual production was only months away. And of course music was needed for it.

Gabbi stalked closer up to Kelsi and glared deeply at her, causing Kelsi to realize she was in deep trouble with Gabbi. "You look, Kelsi, you were my _best friend _and then you go and do that to me." Gabbi shot back and Kelsi rolled her eyes at Gabbi, best friend?

"Best friend?" She asked propping her hands on her hips. "You ditched me all the time for _really really _stupid reasons. You got mad at me every other day, you used me…" She told Gabbi and looked away from her before she laid down her last accusation on the table, the one that hurt Kelsi the most. "You wouldn't even come over to my house to help me when my parents were getting a divorce and my Dad was leaving." She shot at her hoping Gabbi realized how much she really had been hurting her since the year before.

Gabbi re-adjusted her purse strap again and nodded her head. "You're right Kelsi, I was horrible. But I _really loved _ Troy, and you took him away." Gabbi shot at Kelsi, but Kelsi didn't fall into it at all.

"No Gabbi, I didn't take him away. He walked away." She said and turned on her heel and ran down the hallway to the music room.

**-xxx-**

Kelsi slipped into the music room and sat nicely down on the piano's bench. Fishing out her sheet music she placed it on the sheet music holder on the piano and started to strike the keys as she sang the words.

"I gave all of me to you. We were great." She sang out stringing the piano chords and her words together to fit into the song. Jotting down a few more notes and chords and lyrics Kelsi finished the last needed song for the musical. Sighing she smiled at her work and was grateful. She ended up writing ten songs that weekend after the Troy and Gabbi drama, which gave her eleven songs for the school musical. A little over the norm, but it all fit perfectly into the musical's story.

Playing more chords on the piano recklessly, Kelsi didn't even hear Troy walk into the room. "Hey." He said over the piano and Kelsi looked over at him and smiled shyly.

"Hey." She said back. They had only seen each other once since that Friday, when everything Kelsi had was given to Troy. On Saturday Troy had basketball business and on Sunday they both had church and Troy had the day with his family. "What's going on?" She asked as Troy slid on the bench next to her.

"I actually just saw Gabbi." He told his girlfriend and Kelsi nodded at him.

"Yeah, me too. She's mad at me." Kelsi let out in dissapointment. Even though Gabbi wasn't the best best friend in the world, Kelsi still liked to be around her. Kelsi's life didn't start until both Gabbi and Troy were in her musical the year before.

"She'll get over it. She should've seen it coming. We were fighting all the time, we weren't alike any more." Troy explained wrapping an arm around Kelsi's shoulders, and she felt herself tingle under his touch and she was swept back to that morning.

_Troy slid over on his side and used his right hand to trace Kelsi's stomach lightly. "Don't." Kelsi finally let out laughing. _

_Smiling at her Troy nodded his head. "Okay." He agreed and lightly kissed Kelsi on the lips._

_When Troy pulled away Kelsi smiled up at him and took in the moment, it was the most perfect one in her high school career. "I really like you Troy." She whispered pulling her end of the blanket more tightly around her, suddenly feeling 'naked' and embarrassed. _

"_I like you too Kelsi." He said back to her and kissed her again. This time sweeping his tongue around her mouth and she massaged his tongue with her own._

"Kels?" Kesli heard Troy ask and she brought herself back to present day.

"Yeah?" She asked turning her head to look at Troy.

"We haven't really talked about…" He started but Kelsi intrupted him by holding up her hand.

"It's fine. I…let's just leave it." She finally let out and smiled at Troy. She loved being with Troy on Friday, but it wasn't something she wanted to think to much about or dwelve into. Leaning close to Troy she kissed him on the lips and ran her hand through the back of his head.

Kissing her back Troy quickly pulled back and checked his watch. "I have to go, more basketball tryouts." He said and stood up off the bench.

"Wait, I wanted to ask you something." Kelsi stopped him thinking about the thing she had wanted to ask him since Friday.

"Yeah?" Troy looking impatiently at Kelsi.

"I was just wondering if you were going to audition for the school musical next week?" She asked hoping he'd say yes. It was something important to her, and she loved Troy playing her lead.

Troy gave Kelsi a look that she automatically knew as a no, and it made her stomach drop. "Kelsi, I can't Dad really needs me to get this scholarship. You know I would at any other time. But this is something that I need. I'm not like you, I don't have school or music. I need basketball." He told her, not a drop of regret in his voice.

Not even attempting to put on a brave face for him Kelsi nodded her head slightly. "Oh, okay. I guess." She added weakly and she hated the way she was falling into the old her again. But she couldn't change it or take it back.

Smiling at Kelsi Troy turned around and left the music room, off the basketball practice. Sighing Kelsi sat back on the piano's bench and tried to think of anything else besides Troy and the musical. But she couldn't. She really only wanted him to be in because it was him she was thinking off the whole time she was writing the music for it. Shaking her head Kelsi tried to take the thoughts away from her train of thought. It was done with. Troy was the basketball star, nothing else. He only starred in last year's musical because of Gabbi, that was it.

Turning back to the piano Kelsi started to hit the keys randomly, in a short song that she let out to release her feelings. Pounding on the keys Kelsi finally let herself release the thought of Troy performing her songs on stage and let it all go. It was over, he wasn't going to do it.

**-xxx-**

When lunch period rolled around Kelsi caught up with Troy at his locker, shoving her feelings about the musical behind her she walked up in front of him with a big smile on her face. Finally, she'd be able to spend quality time with her new boyfriend. "Hey Troy!" She greeted him and automatically put her hand in his.

"Hey." He replied and kissed her lightly on the cheek. "You hungry?" He asked and Kelsi turned to face him unable to really answer the question fully.

Hungry. Yeah she was hungry, in every sense of the word. Her Dad hadn't called since he left, even though he promised he would. Kelsi's Mom promised it was because he was busy with his new apartment and job, but Kelsi was seventeen she knew better. And her Mom was constantly out and about doing something. They hadn't sat down together for dinner for three days. Kelsi's Mom either had to work late, go to the gym, or she just wanted to go out with her best friend. Either way, she hardly had time for Kelsi. And Kelsi couldn't put any feeling or control into her family situation. It was slipping away from her. "I don't know." She finally replied to Troy's question and lightly shrugged her shoulders.

"You don't know?" Troy repeated looking down at her with a look of confusion on his face.

Kelsi tried again as they walked into the caf. and stood in line in the main dish line, Troy's favorite. "I just mean, I'm not that hungry. Things have been hectic. I don't know." She finished and looked up at Troy, hoping he wouldn't think she was crazy.

"What's hectic?" He asked as a worried expression spilled over his face. "Us?"

Kelsi shook her head firmly at that. He was the only thing keeping her grounded. "No, not us. Family stuff." She explained further.

Troy nodded his head as the couple advanced in the lunch line. "Your Dad?" Troy guessed and Kelsi nodded.

"Mom too. Dad hasn't called yet. Mom is always busy, I haven't talked to her for three days. I'm just not up to eating right now." She sighed out and she noticed Troy take in her frame and her heart started to beat fast. He was looking so closely at her, taking her all in. And she didn't know how he'd respond to her.

"You'll get through it. But come on. Eat lunch, don't you have a test or something you'll need to get done after in sixth?" Troy asked and Kelsi nodded remembering her test in Algebra.

"Yeah…" She let out as they reached the food and Kelsi took the smallest plate in her hands.

"Testing requires brain food." Troy told Kelsi and put her small plate back and replaced it with the biggest plate with the most amount of food. Kelsi gulped down her words and nodded her head nicely at Troy. He was trying.

"Thanks." She told him and they went to find a table to sit at.

"How about that one?" Troy suggested pointing to a table in the corner, where the couple would sit alone and catch up.

Kelsi followed Troy to the table and sat down gracefully at it. She watched as Troy started to dig into his food and Kelsi's gaze went to her own plate. Picking up her fork she pushed the food around her plate and tried to think of anything else besides her parents, the Algebra test, her new relationship with Troy or Gabbi. Anything besides that and she might just be able to shove some food down her throat so Troy wouldn't think she was a freak. "So what exactly is up with your Mom?" Troy asked in between bites and Kelsi nodded her head, relived he asked her about it. She needed to blow off steam in the area of her life.

"Well she's been keeping busy. Either from Me, the more empty house or the fact she's in the middle of a divorce. I don't' know. I can't get her to see me and be around me." Kelsi explained to Troy as she pushed her plate of food off to the corner as she talked to Troy.


	7. CHAPTER SEVEN

**Chapter Seven **

Kelsi walked through her front and door and stopped in her tracks when she took in the living room. It was messier then Kelsi had ever seen it. It wasn't like her mom at all to let it get as messy as it was. Not with her being a complete neatfreak. "Mom?" She called out and Mrs.Nelson automatically popped up in the doorway.

"Hi Kelsi. How was school?" Mrs. Nelson asked and Kelsi shook her head.

"Whatever Mom. WHat happened in here?" She asked taking in all the boxes and broken pictureframes, without pictures in them.

"I'm ridding the house of all things Jim." She answered referring to Kelsi's Dad and Kelsi heaved out a sigh. Her mother was a real piece of work sometimes. She could handle his books and clothes and papers being thrown out. But not the pictures. Not the pictures of the family Kelsi once had.

"EVen the pictures? Where are they?" She asked and Mrs. Nelson shrugged her shoulders.

"It doesn't matter Kelsi. Don't you have homework?" She asked adn Kelsi shook her head.

"No Mom. I'm at the top of my class, that means I get it done on time." Kelsi said and stomped out of the room. She couldn't bear to even be in teh same room as her mom anymore.

Kelsi walked in her room and slammed her door as hard as she could behind her. She couldn't take much more of this that much longer. She plopped down on her bed and shoved her head into her hands, knocking her glasses off of her face. But she didn't care. She was too upset to even care.

Her stomach growled with hunger, jolting Kelsi back to reality. Sighing Kelsi scooped down and picked up her glasses. She adjusted them carefully on her face and looked at the direction of her phone. If there was one person who could make her feel better it'd be Troy Bolton. She grabbed the phone and quickly dialed his number.

"Hey." Troy answered and Kelsi smiled. It was great to just hear his voice.

"Hi Troy." She mumbled fighting back a new batch of tears.

"What's going on Kels?" Troy asked picking up on the sadness in her voice.

"It's my Mom. She threw out all the pictures of my dad, along with any that had him in it. Our living room is a big mess now." Kelsi explained and she heard Troy sigh on the other end.

"Want me to come over?" Troy asked and Kelsi smiled to herself. That would probably be the only thing that would make her evening.

"Yeah." She breathed into the phone and she heard Troy move around on the other end.

"Okay. I'll be there soon." HE said and then Kelsi heard a beep and then the dial tone.

Clicking her own phone off Kelsi smiled to herself again and laid down on her bed. Troy was seeming to be her one true silver lining to this whole year.


	8. CHAPTER EIGHT

**Chapter Eight**

Kelsi spread out on her bed as she waited for time to pass, all she really wanted was for Troy to be with her. She was really getting sick of her parents and home in general. Troy was the only person in the world it seemed to made everything better.

Kelsi fluffed her pillow up and rested her head on the soft cushion and let out a sigh. Minutes later she heard a knock on her bedroom door and she shot up in her bed. "Yeah?" She asked hoping it was Troy and not her Mom. She really couldn't deal with that right now.

"It's me." She heard Troy say and Kelsi smiled.

"Come in." Kelsi called out and Troy opened the door and stepped into Kelsi's room.

"Hey." He greeted Kelsi and Kelsi nodded at him.

"I hope I did't like drag you over here from something." Kelsi told Troy, just wanted to hear that he'd go anywhere for Kelsi. She just needed someone like that in her life, someone that would be there for her all the time no matter what.

"No of course not. I'd come over whenever you need me Kels." Troy reassured Kelsi and sat next to Kelsi on her bed.

"Thanks." KElsi looked down at her fingers in her lap and tried not to cry, but wasn't succeeded very well.

"What's wrong?" Troy asked setting a hand on Kelsi's back.

"Everythign." Kelsi mumbled, tears flowing down her face.

"I'm sorry about yoru parents." Troy mumbled and leaned over to face Keli's face.

"Don't look at me." Kelsi said and turned her head from Troy, she really didn't want him to see her crying and a mess. It was the last way that Kelsi wanted Troy to see her.

"But I love looking at you." Troy said and Kelsi loved the way he said the words. "I love you." Troy added and Kelsi looked over at him and smiled through her tears.

"Really?" Kelsi asked and Troy let out a small laugh.

"Yeah, I mean you're the best girl I've really known." Troy told Kelsi and she smiled.

"I don't know if I can say that yet." Kelsi admitted, since her stuff her with parents, she wasn't up to rushing anything to that level.

"I know, it's fine. You just seem like you needed to hear it." Troy told Kelsi and Kelsi smiled at Troy. Only he would be able to read her that well.

"Yeah I did." Kelsi admitted and Troy leaned over and kissed her on the lips.

Kelsi kissed him back and felt better since she had run into her mom after school. Running her hands over his back and through his hair Kelsi felt at ease. She was glad that her and Troy had gotten together, it was hard on everyone else. But Kelsi needed Troy, she depended on him to make her feel better. Honestly Kelsi didn't know what she would to without Troy helping her.

Pulling away from Troy Kelsi smiled at her boyfriend Kelsi sighed and pulled his head close to her. "I'm glade you're here." Kelsi mumbled and watched Troy nod his head up and down in agreement. Pulling Troy back into a kiss they fell onto the bed and had their first make-out session and Kelsi never felt better. Troy was the one person to make her feel better and she couldn't even figure it out.


	9. CHAPTER NINE

**Chapter Nine**

Pulling her shirt down and fixing her hair Kelsi sat up on the bed and crossed her feet under her. She glanced over shoulder and watched Troy do the same thing. Smiling to herself Kelsi let out a laugh and looked in Troy's eyes. "What?" He asked her and Kelsi shrugged her shoulders.

"I don't know Troy. It's just good having you here." Kelsi admitted and Troy nodded at her.

"Yeah it's the same with you." Troy told Kelsi and she nodded her head and remember her parents. She didn't know what she was going to do and how she was going to handle it. She just wanted it to be like it was.

"I don't know what to do about my parents." Kelsi mumbled and felt tears sting her eyes.

"I know Kelsi. I'm sorry. Just tell me what I can do." Troy told Kelsi and she shrugged her shoulders. Kelsi didn't know what anyone could do. It just felt like one big mess that was leaving Kelsi sad inside. She didn't know how to handle it.

"I don't know." She mumbled and Troy nodded his head.

"I know." He said and wrapped his arms around Kelsi in a hug and even though nothing was fix, Kelsi felt better.

Troy jumped slightly as cell phone rang and he reached into his pocket to answer it. He looked at the caller id and then glanced at Kelsi with a guilty expression on his face. "What?" Kelsi asked not getting the reason behind the face.

"I just forgot to tell you…" He said and Kelis nodded her head at the phone.

"Just answer it, how bad could it be?" Kelsi asked and Troy pushed the talk button and held the phone to his ear.

"Hey Gabriella." He stated and Kelsi looked over him, halfway stunned. Gabriella. Kelis hadn't really seen much of him since Troy had broken up with her. They had been the closest things to best friends, she couldn't believe that Gabriella would be talking to Troy and not her. And for the most part Kelsi couldn't believe that Troy was talking to Gabriella.

Troy had a quick conversation with Gabriella, mostly about general stuff and Kelsi let out a sigh as Troy hung up. "You're talking to her?" Kelsi asked Troy and he nodded his head. Kelsi didn't even know how to compute the information. She kind of missed Gabriella in the back of her mind, she loved having Troy as a boyfriend, but she hated not being able to have Gabriella as a friend, in any sense of the word.

"Yeah, sorry Kelsi. I meant to tell you…I just didn't know how to tell you." Troy tried to explain and KElsi shook her head.

"It's not the point Troy. It's all of it. What has she said about me?" Kelsi asked and Troy shrugged his shoulders.

"I don't want to go into detail about it Kelsi. It's nothing. We just talk like we did when we were friends." Troy promised and Kelsi nodded her head.

"I really don't know how to even deal with this." Kelsi admitted and Troy nodded his head in understandment.

"It's too much right now. I just need to think." Kelsi told Troy and he stood up off her bed.

"I'll see you tomorrow at school?" Troy asked and Kelsi nodded her head as Troy spun away from her. Watching Troy open her door and walk out Kelsi didn't know what she was going to do. With any of it, it was starting to build up on Kelsi she couldn't handle it. Sighign Kelsi leaned back onto her pillows and closed her eyes. Kelsi just wanted things to be simple again.


	10. CHAPTER TEN

**Chapter Ten**

"Kelsi dinner!" Kelsi was at her piano punching a couple of notes and she let out at a sigh at her mom's voice. She dind't want to have to go to dinner and sit through it. But she was kind of hungry, Kelsi couldn't remember the last time that she ate.

"Coming!" Kelsi yelled back and hit a couple more keys on her piano before standing up and walking out the door. Running down the stairs Kelsi reached the kitchen and saw her mom at the table dishing up food on her own plate.

Kelsi looked at the food and felt glade that she decided to eat. Kelsi actually was pretty hungry. "Looks good." Kelsi told her mom and sat at the table in her spot. Glancing at her dad's empty chair Kelsi felt a weird feeling in her stomach, but pushed it away. Kelsi just wanted to get through the meal.

"So how was Troy." Kelsi's mom asked and Kelsi nodded her head as she dished up food on her plate.

"Good. I mean besides that I found out he had been talking to Gabriella with out telling me." KElsi mumbled picking up her fork and messing around with the food on her plate. Kelsi was hungry she just couldn't bring herself to eat right away, she had to let everything settle first.

"What happened with you guys anyway?" Mrs. Nelson asked and Kelsi shrugged. The last thing she wanted to do was go into detail about her, Troy and Gabriella.

"Okay." Kelsi's mom mumbled and Kelsi forked food in her mouth, chewing it slowly, then swallowing it. It felt good to eat, Kelsi had been avoiding it all day, and she didn't even know why. Kelsi just didn't feel like rewarding herself with the food, which was weird. Kelsi sighed and took more bites of her food as she watched her mom eat the last bit of her food and sit back in her chair. "We should watch a movie or something." She said and Kelsi almost felt shock. Her mom never really wanted to do much with Kelsi, her hobby for the past year had been fighting with Kelsi's dad.

"Sure." Kelsi said, happy that she could end up spending the evening with her mom, while she tried to figure out what to do about Troy and Gabriella.

"Okay." Mrs. Nelson said and stood out of her chair. "I'll finish this and then we'll watch something. Your choice." Mrs. Nelson finished and Kelsi nodded her head.

"Yeah, okay." Kelsi answered and she stood out of her seat and walked over to the DVDs and picked a random one that seemed okay to Kelsi. One that would distract her and make her mom laugh like she used to.

-xxx-

Kelsi was in her room, hitting keys on her keyboard and trying to think about anything other then Troy. Thinking about him was blocking her writing and she couldn't get anything out. Sighing Kelsi hit a couple more keys and then stood up from the chair next to her keyboard. She had to do something about it, because it was getting to her.

Picking up her phone Kelsi quickly dialed Troy's number. She just had to at least talk to him, it'd been a couple of days since they had their mini-fight. "Hello?" Troy answered his cell phone and Kelsi took a deep breath.

"Hey." She said and she heard Troy sigh into the phone.

"Kels, I'm really glade you called." Troy told her and Kelsi really believed him.

"Yeah." Kelsi took a breath and quickly let out her question, the one that had been eating at her. "How long have you been talking to Gabriella like that?" Kelsi asked Troy and he sighed again.

"Since we broke up. I'm sorry I didn't tell you…" Troy trailed off and KElsi knew that there was something going on that he wasn't telling her. He sounded guilty when he talked about it, really guilty.

Kelsi walked over to her bed and sat down on it and adjusted the phone on her ear. "What's going on Troy?" Kelsi asked him and she knew that Troy picked up on the tone in her voice. The one that said Kelsi already knew and that he should just tell her.

"It's just that Gabriella really didn't want you to know." Troy stated and Kelsi nodded her head. She had guessed that much, Gabriella really hated her know.

"Okay." Kelsi said and tried not to sound too upset about it. Sighing Kelsi just wished things were nice and simple again. Gabriella never was a great friend to Kelsi, but at least she was there when Kelsi needed or wanted her to be. But now Gabriella wasn't there at all. Kelsi was alone, Troy was the only thing real in her life. But even he was going away now.

"Kelsi I'm sorry. Just needed someone to talk to and I wanted to be a friend to her. I hurt her pretty bad." Troy told Kelsi and his words only made her more upset.

"So what, getting with me was a mistake?" Kelsi asked feeling tears burn into her eyes. She felt bad, really bad, a lot worse then when her parents split. It wasn't the bad when it happened because she had Troy. But now she had no one, she was completely alone and that thought almost made her throw up.

"No Kelsi, that's no what I said…it's just…" Troy tried again, but didn't have anything to say and it made KElsi really mad.

"Whatever Troy. Just go back to Gabriella." Kelsi said and hung up her phone. Tossing steh phone onto the table next to her bed Kelsi felt tears run down her face and she felt horrible. Plopping down onto her bed KElsi just wanted to take back time, she dind't know to where, just anywhere other then the reality she was living.

Closing her eyes Kelsi thought back to the night that her and Troy had started their relationship for real and she wanted that back. That night was perfect and wonderful, one of the best experiences of Kelsi's life. She loved being loved and needed by Troy. Shaking her head against her pillow Kelsi knew that it was stupid she was acting this way. She just didn't Gabriella anymore and she hated how much Gabriella really hated Kelsi.

Sitting back up on her bed Kelsi realized she was being stupid and unfair to Troy. She shouldn't be acting that way to someone who had been what Troy had been to her. Leaning over to the table next to her bed Kelsi picked up the phone and dialed Troy's numbed again.

Kelsi pressed the phone to her ear and knew that she should just put everything good into Troy, because he was the one person in her life who was good and who loved her. She didn't have anything other then Troy and she wasn't going to throw him away for something so juvielle and stupid.

Plus Kelsi really wanted that night back.


	11. CHAPTER ELEVEN

**Chapter Eleven**

_Two Months Later_

Kelsi let out a laugh as she watched Troy and Gabriella play rock, paper, scissors on her bed. They were deeply imerged in the game and it was bugging Kelsi. She sat at her keyboard, trying her hardest to write a song as the two played. It was hard to concentrate though, the laughing and constant noise coming from Troy and Gabriella.

Kelsi finally let out a sigh and stood up from her chair, next to her keyboard. "You guys are like the most noisy players of that game." Kelsi mumbled walking over to the bed and shaking her head at the two.

Gabriella let out another laugh as they finished the game and she peered up at Kelsi. "Sorry BFF, we just got into it." Gabriella mumbled and Troy laughed as he brought his hands to Kelsi's waist.

"Yeah, sorry." He told her and looked up at her.

Kelsi shook her head and shrugged her shoulders. "No big deal guys. I was just trying to write my best song ever." Kelsi told them and Gabriella let out a laugh.

"Oh yeah, what's that?" She asked standing off the bed and walking over to Kelsi's keyboard. Propped on the top of the keyboard was the sheet music for the new song.

"The Glass Slipper, is what it's called." Kelsi told Gabriella and Gabriella took tiem to look over the sheet music.

She finished looking it over and smiled up at Kelsi. "It's really good Kelsi. I mean, I can't read the music or anything, but the lyrics are awesome." She announced and she reached her arms out and hugged Kelsi.

Kelsi smiled as she hugged Gabriella back and felt happy for the first time in a while. After Kelsi called Troy that night a couple months ago they made up and Troy convinced Kelsi to called Gabriella and talk to her-really talk. Kelsi did, and they ended up making up and being able to be friends again. They talked for three hours that night, and everything was put on the table. Making it all clear air for the both of them.

Kelsi let Gabriella out of the hug and looked at her and realized she had missed Gabriella for those weeks she wasn't there. She wasn't the best of the best friends that Kelsi could've had, but she was at least someday. Those weeks she didn't have anyone-not even her family- was the worst. She had Troy, but Gabriella was too mad at Kelsi to be able to make that even nice or worthwhile.

If Kelsi knew all it would take was a quick hour long conversation with Gabriella, she would've never spent those weeks along and sad. "Let's go to lunch." Troy suggested and Gabriella nodded her head.

"Yeah, sound good Kelsi?" She asked turning back to Kelsi and Kelsi nodded her head.

"Yup, let's go." Kelsi agreed and the trio picked up all of their things and filed out of Kelsi's bedroom.

They walked through her house and Kelsi smiled at each of the pictures of her dad that Kelsi's mom had put back up, after the smoke had cleared over the divorce. Things still weren't perfect, but at least Kelsi had really found her own little glass slipper in a world of chaos.

It was a conversation and Kelsi was never going to forget that. Smiling Kelsi stepped out of her house after Troy and Gabriella and she felt a weight lifted from her shoulders. Life was really better.


End file.
